Rainy and Cold, and Math too!

Sunday night was full of thunderstorms, and Monday just couldn't get dry.  We were "on" for soccer practice, then a new round of rain rolled in.  Lincoln, Jonathan, and William (not on our soccer team, but super fun friend) happened all to be at Bowie pick-up at the same time, so we had a mini soccer practice!  Beau was really involved, and Jonathan's little sister, Audrey, was ok with playing with the boys a little.  We had a fun time until the lightning began, then we all packed up and headed home for dinner.

The rain and storms continued from Monday night into the day on Tuesday.  Daddy was working in Chicago this week, so we had colder temps to match his.  As soon as we finished our grilled chicken and steamed green beans dinner, we donned sweatshirts and helmets for our nightly bike ride!!

Lincoln has had an especially hard time going to bed this week.  I'm thinking that's because he managed to sneak the iPad in his room for two nights and play it under his picnic table until Mommy discovered what was going on.  Now, nights with no iPad are boring, according to Lincoln.  So he crafts, writes, reads, and makes up super hard math tests for Mommy.  And around 11:00, this is what Lincoln is doing.  Finally asleep and ready to be carried to bed and tucked in.   

That super hard math test for Mommy needs to be completed on Friday, according to Lincoln.  Are calculators allowed?  Or iPhones?  He already had the taped papers and crayon in a special place for the big test!!!

Saturday and Sunday Fun

After our wild night of storms, Lincoln's Saturday soccer and baseball games were cancelled.  Beau and Mommy headed to Build-A-Bear at Firewheel for Charlie's 4th birthday party in the morning.  Beau loves Charlie and had so much fun.  He picked Leonardo from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as his bear, and they played lots of fun games while waiting to stuff their bears.  Charlie's older brother Clark (from Lincoln's basketball team) is on Beau's right, and the little boy on Beau's left is named Beau too and they were born just 4 days apart!!!  Crazy!

The kids posed for a group pic after everyone got their bears all complete.  It was a fun group! 

Charlie's Mom had cupcakes ready, and the kids were so happy with their treat to end the party.  Beau made sure to sit by Charlie, and they share the same love for icing!!! 

Nana and Pops stopped by after lunch, and we went for a bike ride around the block a few times.  It was super muddy from all of the rain, so the boys hosed down the bikes (mostly the wheels) to get the mud off.  Lincoln and Beau got a little silly with the hose, and they ended up a little soaked and a lot of giggly! 

We were going to have a busy Sunday, so we hit up our grocery shopping on Saturday afternoon.  Lincoln saw a glove in the parking lot that said Ben, so he wanted his picture made next to it and for Mom to text the picture to his friend Ben's mom.  Luckily, they thought the picture was too funny! 

After Sunday School, we had brunch at the club and checked on the progress of the pool renovations.  They have a lot of work to do before the Memorial Day opening weekend, but we are ready! 

Daddy and Beau played a little catch during Lincoln's afternoon baseball practice, and Beau loved it!  Well, he acted like he hadn't thrown anything ever, but Daddy reminded him to throw the baseball like he throws toys at Lincoln all the time!!! 

We had Legos and a snack after baseball, and it was time to teach the boys how to peel their own Orange Cuties.  They were excellent at peeling and ate several right away. 

More rain is on the way, and we are ready for the week.  Lots of fun to come.

Full Friday

Field Trip Friday!!!  Lincoln has been excited for weeks to go on the Field Trip to the Environmental Science Center, and it was finally the day!  The rain didn't dampen his spirits at all.  Of course, riding the bus is a huge deal!

Our bus was 20 minutes late, but we couldn't do the outside portion of the trip anyway because of the rain.  We spent our time indoors and learned about several animals.  The kids were really good and sat quietly (as much as 42 Kindergartners can) as the animals were brought out.  They saw a turtle and ferret, but there are no pictures of those.  (Mom and Mrs. Baily were busy helping one student having a hard time in the different environment.)  Next up was a red snake that the lady assured everyone wasn't interested in kids.  It made the moms and teachers a little nervous, but it never came towards the kids.  We got to see an example of its exoskeleton and its skin post-shedding.

A Bearded Dragon Lizard was our next animal, and Lincoln pointed out that Beau would really love that one (because he loves dragons).  It was nice too and didn't worry about the kids.  We learned what it eats and more.   

The bunny rabbit was last, and all of the kids loved that.  It ate some leaves and everyone got to pet him.   

Best part of the trip . . . the bus ride!!!!  Lincoln smiled the whole time!  We sat across from Levi, Canon, and Ben, and the boys loved every minute!  Suggestion for the easiest field trip . . . riding around town in a school bus.  No need to stop anywhere because Kindergartners just love riding the bus! 

Beau was with Nana and Pops all day, and they picked up Lincoln to do some AR quizzes in the library followed by a trip to Monster Yogurt!  We met up with some friends at the club for dinner and the Mavs/Rockets playoff game.  The boys played around on the putting green before the storm arrived.  When the lightening started, they had to come inside. 

We ate dinner inside during the heavy part of the storm, but the kids were eager to go back out and play when the rain stopped.  Everyone ate their dinner great (pizza, grilled chicken, and French fries).  Hannah is super fun to play with, and they had a great time under the patio!!!  I asked for a sweet "Cheese" but sillies were more fun! 

This post was brought to you by the letter F (Sesame Street-style): Fun, Friday, Fun, Field Trip, Fun, FroYo, Fun, French Fries, Fun, Friends, Fun, Fun, Fun!! 

Pinstack Plano Arcade Gaming

The Annual Bowl for the Cure was held on Thursday for Mommy's work, and it's always a fun event to raise money for Komen.  We went to a new place this year; the just opened Pinstack in north Plano.  They had great food, lovely bowling lanes, and a great arcade/gaming area.  Since they are pretty new, they gave each bowler a play card good for 2 hours of gaming in the arcade area.  When the bowling and fundraising was done, Mommy picked the boys up from school early and took them for 2 hours of fun in the afternoon at Pinstack.  They were so surprised, and we had so much fun!!!  We were the only ones in the arcade and had every game to ourselves!!  They loved skiing down the mountain and really got the side-to-side action.  They were taking it seriously!

A transformers game with shooting had them concentrating super hard.  They played this one a few extra times. 

This one was a favorite that we came back to over and over.  The boys drove in a motorcycle race, complete with super leaning to each side and squealing with delight! 

We've been to lots of places like this:  Dave and Busters, Adventure Landing, Chuck E Cheese, etc.  This is the first time a worker was seen actually cleaning the games.  This sweet guy covered every inch of every game with his cleaning spray and towel.  At first he just wiped the joysticks/shooters/seats, then he climbed up to clean the tops of the machines too.  He needed a tip!!!  (Oh, he has on a harness because he was supposed to man the rock wall, but no one was there to climb.) 

They raced some cars and got super serious again! 

This one was too fun!  They were laid back with wind blowing on them and their seats shaking as they went on an airplane adventure.  We repeated this one too! 

The Komen group was all gone by the time the boys were picked up and we went back to play, but another corporate group was having an event.  An attendee wandered over and asked if we wanted his play card.  It had more tickets, and the boys had so much fun playing Skee Ball over and over.  (Beau is seriously bad at Skee Ball!!!)  We won a few tickets and finished up our spontaneous afternoon of fun. 

Several generous Komen friends gave us their 2 hour gift cards, so we'll be back for sure.  This place was so fun, and we had it all to ourselves.  Can't wait to go back!

Biking to Baseball Practice

A couple of soccer/baseball teammates have biked to practice lately, and the boys were super interested!  They have asked a couple of times if they could ride their bikes to practice at Bowie.  On Tuesday night, we made it happen.  After a quick dinner, we bike to baseball practice.  They loved it!!!  It is so great that we live so close to the school where all of our practices are held.  Yes, it was slower than if we had just jumped in the car, but they were really proud.  Sometimes it's the little things that are worth the extra few minutes to make an evening special. 

Weekend Wrap-Up

Happy Friday!  Beau and Mommy started the morning off by sleeping in a bit.  Mommy decided to get her workout for the day in while watching some daytime TV, and Beau wanted to be in charge!  Sweet thing led an hour long workout using different magazine exercise routines.  He said we needed to do some deep breathing when our workout was done, and he explained something his preschool gym teacher taught him about deep breathing.  Such a funny workout buddy!

We picked Lincoln up from school, and the boys played on the playground with friends for quite a while.  We also hit up Big Lou's car wash and the Popcorn Shack for a little snack.  The boys went to Nana and Pops for the evening because Mommy and Daddy had the Bowie Dinner and Auction fundraiser to attend.  We had so much fun at the western-themed benefit!  We met up with a few couples pretty early for the BBQ dinner, and it was delicious!  The live auction was out of control, and we were all a little shocked at what some of the items were sold for.  Front row parking spot at school for the school year = $2,400.00.  4 4-person rounds of golf = $1,000.00.  Naming the school driveway - $1,100.00.  Week long stay for 5 couples at a house in Cozumel = $6,400.00.  We also participated in the silent auction items, and we were big winners.  Lincoln won a kickball game and fro-yo party with Mrs. Bailey, an end of year swim party, and Mommy won a gift basket from her friend's shop in town.  Selfie!!!! 

We loved hanging with so many friends for the night, and Kindergarten totally represented at the fundraiser!  I learned that over $30,000.00 was raised, and it is all for the PTA to use to support the school and teachers.   

Lincoln was totally amazed that Mommy was partying with Mrs. Bailey!!  He can't stop asking her when the kickball game will happen.  She's so sweet to offer her time after school hours to do something fun with the kids.   

Some rowdy rain and thunderstorms ran through the evening, but we weren't dampened.  We picked the boys up pretty late, but we had planned 8:00 Baseball pictures and an 8:30 Baseball game and a 10:00 soccer game for Saturday.  Turns out of the games were rained out because everything was way too wet!  Daddy met a few friends for golf in the afternoon, and the boys wanted a picnic at Jersey Mike's.   

Nana and Pops came over after lunch to do some bike fixing.  Beau had a loose training wheel, and Lincoln needed a kick stand because he doesn't have training wheels to keep his bike standing.  After Pops fixed the bikes, we all headed out for a neighborhood ride.  Beau found a roly poly when we stopped at an intersection and needed a picture.  (Gross!) 

When we crossed the intersection, we found Case and Canon collecting roly polies too!  Beau was happy to jump off his bike to join them.  The boys all climbed in the "breakfast swing" (because it looks like a waffle?) for a little fun.   

Carsen and Canon climbed up into the tree house, and Lincoln got a little brave and climbed up to the first level.  Beau was fine to remain on the ground! 

After hanging out with the Saugier's for a while, we biked back home.  I got a message from another friend (Aimee) that she had a giant coffee table that wouldn't work in their house, so it was available for pick up.  Lincoln's Lego table is overrun, so a bigger table sounded great.  We stopped by their house, and while the grownups discussed the table, the kiddos jumped on the trampoline.  (Beau had climbed out for a second when I snapped this picture.)  They have a super fun backyard! 

So we loaded up this giant coffee table and had to make room for it in the playroom.  It was definitely time for a clean up anyway, so we worked hard to empty the room of all things "too little".  Toy box, little table with chairs, Home Depot play station, and lots of toys needed to be cleaned out.  Beau needed to pose with the toys we were getting rid of! 

Yes, it's a giant table, but the room looks so much bigger after removing the other stuff.  The boys love the extra room for keeping the Legos they put together out to play with. 

Sunday afternoon was super busy!  Daddy played golf then he was asked to take over pitching for coach pitch Baseball practice, and he did a great job. 

Beau made up a new game while we watched practice:  step on Mommy's shadow!  The funniest part is that Mommy moves around a lot, so Beau has to chase the shadow.  Genius fun! 

Busy but fun weekend for sure! 

Mid-Week Fun

It has been a busy week, indeed!  Mom got to spend Wednesday morning in the library at Bowie, and it was super fun.  The kids love checking out new books and watching short videos on the iPads.  It's great to visit with 20 Kindergartners to start the morning!

We got up a little early on Thursday morning and hit up the donut shop!  Beau loved his donut holes and "hot dog", but he was a little squinty-eyed in the bright sun.  Ready for school and ready to have some fun! 

When we dropped Lincoln off at school, he was all smiles.  The crossing guard always loves to greet his sweet smiling face . . . even with donut crumbs and a tiny milk mustache! 

Lincoln's soccer team had a make up soccer game on Thursday evening, and it was fun but not the best effort from the boys.  Perhaps at the end of the full week of school and activities, little boys are not as energetic for an evening soccer game.  They had fun, and that's what matters. 

All of the sunshine is fleeting . . . storms are coming and that affects the rest of the weekend.  More pics tomorrow!

Our Weekend

Friday morning was "Muffins with Mom" at Bowie, and Lincoln was so excited!  We had a fun few minutes before school started with a few friends and their moms in the cafeteria.  It was a great way to start the day!

After school, we headed to the club for a party on the range.  Several golf companies were sampling their latest equipment, but the kids and moms were just having fun.  Never would it EVER be ok for Lincoln and Beau to roll around in a sand trap . . . apparently that isn't true for this evening ONLY!  They had so much fun!  Daddy was finishing up golf with his buddies, and the Moms were supervising the sand action.  Luckily, the DJ announced a dance contest, and Lincoln and Beau were front and center!!!  They busted a moved for sure!!  Neither won a prize, and when the sun set we went inside for dinner.  It was a great event, and the boys loved that they got to spend Friday night with their favorite club friend, Hannah!

We had our first baseball game on Saturday morning, and the White Sox did great.  We are coach-pitch (with hitting t-ball style if you don't connect after 3 pitches) this spring, and Lincoln is surprisingly hitting super great.  He was the first player on the team to get a hit off Coach Corey, and he hustled around the bases.  Coach Malachi helped him with his batting stance then Lincoln got a great hit!!! 

Thankfully, his teammates batted him around to score.  Love that we put the kiddos first names on their uniforms this year!   ($0.60 per letter is an awesome deal!)  Our team was pretty great on defense, and we got the other team out at least 3 times over the hour.  Great game, White Sox!

We came home to have lunch (picnic from the Dog Stop!) and rest a bit.  The weather was so nice that we went for a bike ride 3 separate times in the afternoon.  Perhaps Mommy didn't take any pictures of that!  Beau got out his dinosaur bubble gun from his girl, Lucy C.   

Lincoln mastered the bubble wand from his Easter basket.  It's so sweet to this Mommy that they aren't too old to have fun blowing bubbles!! 

 

On Sunday morning, we all went to Sunday School then had brunch at the club.  Lincoln's baseball practice provided tons of entertainment for Beau.  We played catch while Lincoln was practicing, but Beau had all of the protective gear . . . he wore Lincoln's batting helmet and glove, and Mommy only had her bare hands.  Still loving some baseball fun with this 4 year old!

The upcoming rain may have an effect on our soccer and baseball activities this week, but we will still have plenty going on.